Zelleager presents:
CROSS: Blood Horizon
Inspired by: The hollow
Manhattan: New York
In a business-like conference room, six men sat around a long table
Three on one side, three on the other
At the far end sat a man
Ryan.
Grey tuxedo. Perfectly tailored
His hands were clasped together, resting on the table.
All men in the room had one thing in common
The masks
White, with only slots for eyes
None of their faces were visible
The men sat quietly in the room, staring blankly at nothing
Upright and formal
It seemed they were waiting for something.
The opposite of Ryan was a giant screen on a wall
The breeze gently blew against the window outside
The table had a huge logo
Even the ceiling
BLACKSPIRE
Suddenly, a knock was heard
A woman stepped in, wearing a business-like suit
Her dark hair, neatly done in a bun
A remote rested in her hand
She quietly approached Ryan
She aimed the remote at the massive screen
It powered on with a low electronic hum
"Thank you...Eve" Ryan said quietly
Eve gave a soft bow before stepping behind Ryan
The screen loaded
CROSS: BLOOD HORIZON
Everyone watched the screen
The footage displayed Leo and Damian's team
It showed when the trio entered Turnbuck
It skipped ahead to the town's destruction
Debris flew through the air, flames consumed the streets, and Kaito unleashing shockwaves
Thomas lay on the ground coughing violently
Beside a building, that had just exploded
Information appeared above his head
PLAYER DETECTED: Thomas.
STATUS: ELEVATED STRESS
The screen shifted to Kaito
It paused, zooming onto his face
Calm yellow eyes, a face covered in faint cracks
Suddenly, new information appeared
ANOMALY DETECTED
STATUS: DEAD
One of the men shifted slightly
The rest didn't move
Eve looked at Ryan, maybe hoping for a reaction
But he didn't move, he stared blankly at the screen
Eyes dark, cold.
Even behind the mask
The screen moved to Autumn above
Aiming a musket like gun at Kaito below
PLAYER DETECTED: Autumn
STATUS: Stable
The screen then shifted over to Leo
(This was supposed to be the scene where he was punching Alwich's face non stop)
But instead, he appeared to be punching the ground
The men watching exchanged confused glances
"Huh?" A bald one on his right looked at Ryan
Others began murmuring amongst themselves
"Eve" Ryan called
Eve stepped further and stood beside Ryan
"Who was Leon fighting?" He asked
"I'm not sure, sir." Eve replied
Ryan looked at the screen
It was frozen
VISUAL DATA CORRUPTED
It glitched a few times before landing
In the wasteland
To when the trio had their final showdown against the other team
It was after Leo got shocked
Leo was unconscious
Mouth half open
Hands twitching
Everyone got silent slowly watching
Damian and Dezmond were a few feet away from Leo
Backs turned
They were watching as Scott carried Lydia on his back
"Not again..." Dezmond muttered
"What happened?" Damian asked
"What do you think?" Scott answered resting Lydia to the floor
"I left you guys with her.." he added, while roaming his pocket
Scott pulled out a green vial
"This stuff ain't good for us" He poured the liquid down Lydia's throat
Scott stood up
"Ugh, I hate this part" Dezmond said looking at Lydia
Waiting for her to start breaking apart in awkward shapes
"Let's give her some space" Damian said
The three walked off further
"Anyway, we got the stupid staff" Dezmond said
He raised his hand
The staff was gone
"Yo. What the hell?" Damian blurted
"Don't tell me you lost it?!" Damian shouted
The two then started bickering
"Hey look" Scott pointed above them
The staff hovered above them, humming softly
A low vibration filled the air
"What the hell is it doing?" Dezmond asked
No one answered
Slowly it started to descend
Damian stretched his hands toward it
The staff lowered itself into his palm
"Hmmmmm"
"I think it likes you" Dezmond said
Both Damian and Scott looked at him
Meanwhile
Leo was on the ground
His eyes snapped open
He sat up, a soft groan
He held his head, groaning
Until he heard talking
Turning around he saw Damian's team with the staff
He looked again and saw Lydia behind them unconscious
Leo stood up, ears ringing
He stood there looking
He looked back at The group then at Lydia
He dashed forward
He reached Lydia in no time
He grabbed her by the back of the neck and lifted her effortlessly
His other hand at her waist
The three heard a noise and turned
Scott's eyes narrowed
Dezmond locked eyes with him
His hands sparked with electricity
Flaring non stop
An earth-made Hammer materialized in Damian's hand
"I'll break her" Leo growled
Dezmond stopped flaring
Damian's hammer crumbled
"Give it back"
Damian looked at Dezmond then at Scott
He nodded
"Very well" he gave Dezmond the staff to give Leo
"Stop" Leo said
Dezmond stopped
"You think I'm stupid?" He asked "give it back"
His grip around her neck tightened
She let out a soft groan
Suddenly, Lydia's body began twisting violently
Her body twisted and swelled
Warping into something unnatural
"Huh what the?" Leo, a look of disgust
In that slight confusion
Scott moved
A blur with a cyan trail
Leo didn't even realize he got hit
The instant he realized Lydia was gone
A violent impact, slammed into his jaw
But he held his ground
Growling deeply
"Raaagh!" he charged
Wild.
Almost like an animal
"Shit!" Damian stepped forward
Rasing his hands
The ground shook violently
Almost like waves
Leo slipped momentarily but still dashed forward on all fours
Scott moved
In that slight moment
He removed all three out of Leo's path
Leo slammed into the ground, shattering it
Debris flew
Scott exhaled sharply, slightly out of breath
"You bitch!" Dezmond rushed forward
Ready to shock Leo's face
Leo reacted
He shoved his hands through Dezmond's guts
Hands coming out through the back
"Gah!" Dezmond's eyes widened
Leo reached to grab Dezmond's head
"Noo!" Damian shouts
Just as Leo was about to grip his head
Time slowed
Well at least for Scott
Everything around him felt magnetic
Like he had broken past his limits
Cyan aura flared violently from his skin like steam
He watched as his hand got close, millimeter by millimeter
Then he saw it
A rock
He picked it up
Charged, then threw it
The rock struck Leo directly in the forehead
Instantly he fell to the ground
Scott moved and picked Dezmond up bringing him back
He dug into Dezmond pockets
Popping another vial down his throat
Dezmond gulped it down
"Yo! What the fuck!?" he shouted
Before losing consciousness
"Why won't he stay down?" he mumbled
Damian looked at scott
"Go" Scott said
Damian slammed the staff in the floor
They started to disappear pixel by pixel
Scott looked at his hands
Slowly fading
He looked at the unconscious Dezmond
If he had been a second slower
Leo would have crushed his skull
Scott looked back at the unconscious Leo
They fade
....
Soon Autumn was seen standing over Leo
BlackSpire
Back at the meeting room the screen faded to black
With only the ending words
'CROSS'
There was silence
No one uttered a word
Ryan also remained silent
"It's buggy.."
The bald one said
The few others muttered and nodded with each other
"Why weren't the bugs removed?" Another asked Ryan
Ryan stared blankly
"I...don't know"
The men mumbled
"We paid a lot, don't let us down"
One with a round hat said
"You're in good hands" Ryan answered
AFTER MEETING
Ryan stood in front of a mirror
Mask off.
Face pale, the mask rested on the sink
Dark circles linger under his eyes
He sighed deeply
He turned the water on
And started washing his face
Anything to feel alive
He stopped and turned the pipe off
A knock was heard
Eve opened the door, a fresh towel in hand
She walked up and began gently drying his face
"Eve?" He called "Why weren't the bugs removed?"
"We did remove them" she replied
"We always remove them" she stopped wiping
"Something inside CROSS learned
how to erase itself from observation"
Ryan's eyes darkened
"What?"
Inside CROSS
In a small room, papers were scattered everywhere
The place was ransacked
In a corner of the room, pinned against the wall-
Was a man with scaly skin, and a fish tail
He had been impaled by a trident, that pinned him to the wall
Purple blood leaked onto the floor
And just below him at desk
Papers all everywhere, Alwich frustratedly-
Skimmed through them, beneath a dim light
Teeth clenching
Outside that Apartment
Kaito stood on the tip of a tree
He stared out into the distance
His eyes glowed faintly even in the sunlight
The breeze swayed the tree, but he never lost balance
Below him, lay bodies everywhere
Some lay in the grass, others hung from trees
There was a giant wolfman
A massive hole in his chest, both arms broken
Beside him stood Boris, arms folded, looking bored
Soon a cackle was heard, startling both Boris and Kaito
Alwich exited the building laughing, several papers in hand
The building exploded behind him, yellow gas rising into the air
Alwich opened his portal
Kaito landed on the floor beside them
Soon they all stepped through
...
A few groans could be heard
We see a man crawling
A trail of blood stained the ground as he crawled
He crawled to lean himself on the nearest tree
He groaned in pain to stay upright
He grabbed his bow and an arrow
He aimed at the sky
Fighting to steady his aim
Soon the arrow glowed purple
"Fly," The soldier muttered "Fly and tell the truth"
He fired the arrow
The arrow soared through the sky
Just as it was about to fall
Purple translucent wings sprouted from it
It let out a loud screech before flapping away
Slowly darkness consumed everything
ANOTHER POV
...
Far away, a figure stood atop a cliff watching them
The trio
Thomas carried Leo on his back while Autumn floated ahead
They were still in the wasteland
The figure watched as Autumn pointed to a path ahead
The figure sighed in relief
Just as Autumn's group became a blur
A black horse appeared
It neighed softly behind the figure
Its eyes swirled like infinite purple voids
It was the same horse that teleported Autumn
Suddenly a birdtype screech could be heard
They looked up and saw something flapping towards them
Their eyes narrowed
It was the arrow
It landed in the figure's hand
The bloody spots on the arrow had already said enough
Urgently they jumped onto the horse
Moments later, they vanished into a swirling purple void
End